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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22712992">SuperValor versus the Paparazza</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndromedaSmith/pseuds/AndromedaSmith'>AndromedaSmith</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supergirl (TV 2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, KaramelValenteen2020, One Shot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 14:29:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,618</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22712992</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndromedaSmith/pseuds/AndromedaSmith</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>SuperValor’s attempts to keep their relationship under wraps are challenged by a very persistent photographer.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kara Danvers/Mon-El</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>SuperValor versus the Paparazza</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“We might as well not make Valentine’s plans. They never work out anyway.” Kara moped.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, you just giving up on a holiday? That’s not like you,” was Mon-El’s response. Kara looked over at him as they walked through the DEO. For a moment she saw the man who had first arrived in her life nearly five years ago. It might have been more than a decade for him, but without the beard, smirking while teasing her, he was a dead ringer for his younger self.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Mon-El, just think about it. Your first Thanksgiving there was Medusa, and then Barry’s alien invasion. Valentine’s Day we had Mxyzptlk, and then next Christmas there was Reign.. we don’t exactly have the best luck when it comes to holidays.” Kara sighed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His brow furrowed and suddenly Mon-El was his slightly older, wiser self again. “I see your point. But you love holidays and I don’t want you to miss out. What about this: we won’t do the typical stuff. Let’s go out on patrol, see if we can save someone else’s holiday.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her face lit up. “Flying together? You got it!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Since Mon-El’s return a few months ago, the citizens of National City had gotten used to the sight of his red suit and blue cape in the sky. Valor had been seen with Supergirl enough times that the tabloids were starting to speculate about their relationship. That didn’t help Kara and Mon-El, who were still trying to figure it out themselves. They were still close, affectionate — but Mon-El was more serious and cautious than before and Kara was having trouble letting go of the fear that she would lose him again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Kara forgot all of that as she soared through the sky next to Mon-El. The only thing better than flying was flying with someone you cared about — okay, maybe chocolate was close. Or flying with chocolate, although sometimes that led to bug-swallowing. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He tapped her shoulder to get her attention. When she turned to him he was rewarded by a brilliant smile. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Those eyes. </span>
  </em>
  <span>When she was happy they could outshine the Sun. Mon-El pointed at a small plane using smoke to draw a heart shape in the sky. Without a word, Kara took off toward the heart. Mon-El grinned and followed. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When they reached the smoke, Kara was careful to slow down so as not to disrupt the pattern. Mon-El caught up to her as they briefly floated in the center of the heart. He pecked her cheek. “So much for skipping Valentine’s,” he laughed. Kara joined his laugh, backed slowly away from the smoke, then zoomed off into the distance.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Below them on the ground, a photographer replayed the last few shots on her camera’s screen and smiled.</span>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They spent a relaxed half-hour circling over National City, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying each other’s company. The inevitable emergency arose and it was shockingly appropriate: an incident at a chocolate factory. Supergirl and Valor sped through the sky and landed in the parking lot just outside.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s the situation?” Valor asked the fire chief who was leading the damage control effort.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“See that tank?” the chief pointed to a stainless steel tank, about 20 feet in diameter and 40 feet high. “It’s got a crack in its inner wall, and the outer wall is buckling. If it splits, that’s about half a million gallons of very hot chocolate that could really hurt a lot of people.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Like the Great Molasses Flood,” Supergirl remarked. Valor looked at her quizzically. “What? It was a real thing. You hold, I’ll weld?” she asked. He nodded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They sped over to the tank, which was threatening to buckle and dripping chocolate from its top. The factory supervisor pointed at the weakened area. Valor braced the tank while Supergirl, floating, used her heat vision to reinforce the wall near the split. The supervisor checked the weld and gave the thumbs-up. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Supergirl landed. Valor eased himself out from the tank and came to stand beside her. Somehow some chocolate had dripped on his forehead during the operation. She licked her finger and swiped it across the chocolate, which only succeeded in smearing it further across his face. Wounded by this assault on his dignity, Valor attempted to counterattack by curling his fingers into tickling position and leaning towards Supergirl. She started to giggle before he even touched her and quickly jumped into the sky. He followed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The photographer stood on the edge of the crowd of onlookers outside the safety perimeter, humming to herself. This was turning out to be a </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> good day.</span>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Five miles up and a hundred miles away over the desert, no planes or drones nearby, Mon-El and Kara circled each other, his hands outstretched toward her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I am </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> ticklish!” she cried.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So why do you keep laughing and backing away?” he asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You looked like you wanted to retaliate. And with good reason. You look ridiculous,” she responded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“And whose fault is that?” he shot back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Mine, okay? Truce? Come here,” she sighed. Mon-El approached Kara warily. She pulled out a handkerchief from a pocket in her suit (</span>
  <em>
    <span>of course</span>
  </em>
  <span> her suit had pockets) and handed it to him.  He looked relieved. “I was afraid you were going to spit on it,” he said. “Some Earth customs I still can’t get used to.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Kara grinned and pointed at his forehead. “You missed a spot.” His eyes crossed as he tried to see where she was pointing. She moved closer and kissed the chocolate off his skin. “Mmm. Tastes like chocolate.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mon-El wiped at his forehead with the handkerchief and moved closer to her. “I think I need to check that.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her heart started hammering as he gently took hold of her head and pulled her face to his. Their lips touched and it was his turn to make contented “mmm” sounds. Kara wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her super-hearing picked up a human scream from the direction of the mountains. Kara broke off and and shot toward the sound. Lacking super-hearing, Mon-El had no idea what had happened. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That was .. unexpected</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thought as he rushed to catch up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Supergirl arrived at a small ledge just off a hiking trail. A woman stood on the ledge, sobbing. Supergirl landed next to her. “What happened?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“My boyfriend..” the woman choked out. “We came up here..I think he was about to propose. And then he slipped.” She looked over the edge and broke down in tears once more.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Valor appeared, hovering since there wasn’t room for three to stand on the ledge. Supergirl leaned over to him and quickly explained the situation. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going to take you down to the trailhead. Valor will start the search,” Supergirl told the woman, who nodded but didn’t speak. Valor rocketed downward along the cliff edge. Supergirl picked the woman up and flew her more slowly to the base of the mountain trail, then joined Valor in an aerial search of the cliff and the trail. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They’d done this sort of thing before; working together, it didn’t take long for them to scour the mountainside. They could find no sign of the missing man. From past experience, Supergirl knew that this usually meant that the victim had slid into one of the many crevasses that criss-crossed the area around the trail. The minerals in the rocks blocked her X-ray vision, so she couldn’t help find anyone trapped; the echoes in the crevasses made her super-hearing useless. Usually by the time the search-and-rescue teams found the missing person, it was only to recover the body.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Supergirl caught up to Valor, who was making one last pass right below the ledge where they had found the woman. She landed on the ledge to catch her breath; he floated down beside her. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s so sad,” she murmured. “Proposing, and on Valentine’s Day — to have this happen.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Valor said nothing, just took her hand and stroked it gently. He glanced down at the woman, who was several thousand feet below them at the trailhead.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Was that the glint of a camera lens? This time it was Valor who took off without explanation and Supergirl who followed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When they reached her, the woman was stowing a camera away in her daypack. She looked guileful and not at all like the broken-hearted lover they had seen on the ledge.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, what’s going on?” Valor demanded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s going on is that I have the romantic scoop of the decade: hashtag-SuperValor” the woman replied. “The skywriting.. the chocolate factory.. holding hands on the ledge. These pictures are going to make me a mint!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Valor and Supergirl locked glances. Informed by years of history, their wordless communication that followed took only a few seconds.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Have fun,” Valor shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’d try the Daily Planet or CatCo Magazine first. They usually pay the highest rates.” Supergirl suggested.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Without another word, the heroes lifted off into the sky, leaving the woman standing on the desert floor, staring at them open-mouthed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Back at the loft, Kara and Mon-El snuggled on the couch, her back to his front, his arms wrapped around her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re sure it worked?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Positive. Wiping a camera’s flash memory with an EM pulse is a piece of cake.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Cake.. now there’s a good Valentine’s Day idea,” Kara smiled.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You know, we’re not going to be able to dodge hashtag-SuperValor forever,” Mon-El said thoughtfully, toying with a lock of Kara’s hair.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So what do you propose we do about it?” she asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How about hashtag-Kara-and-Mon-El get some practice first?” he smirked, pulling her closer and turning her around to face him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Sounds like an even better Valentine’s Day idea.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>OK team, you know exactly what scene to visualize after the end here.</p>
<p>The paparazzi idea came from a few lines at the end of gldngrl7’s “Permission to Flourish,” which is so good that you should stop what you’re doing and go read it right now. [This story isn’t otherwise related to that one.]</p>
<p>If you’re reading this the day it was posted, I’d like to point out that I wrote it yesterday, before today’s tsunami of, ahem, news.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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